I am not a TGIF person.  I like weekends but also, I like other days.  However today I am sick :P and tired :P and low energy, so I am looking forward to the option of doing nothing.  And of course I also have the option ... to blog!

Did you watch last night's debate?  Me neither.  But I love that Ted Cruz came out swinging and clearly rocked Trump.  Honestly after Super Tuesday, Hillary is going to be the Democratic candidate, so our only hope to avoid Clinton vs Trump is Ted Cruz.  He's actually been my pick all along, on IQ grounds.  You can choose a candidate for their views and personality and apparent morals, but at the end of the day smart is smart and smart people hire smart people. 

I was never a fan of Mitt Romney (or was I? ... I did vote for him; anyone but Obama ...), but I loved his well reasoned attack on Donald Trump.  Trump *is* a con man, and we're seeing the curtain pulled back bit by bit.  Unfortunately it might be too late, and the electorate might not be smart enough to see it for what it is.

I think the best analogy for what's happening with Trump might be Jesse Ventura winning Governor of Minnesota, or possibly Arnold Schwarzenegger winning Governor of California.  You get these confident guys who seem like they're going to make things happen, but then they win and can't do anything.  I do think both Ventura and Schwarzenegger were better people than Trump.

Scott "Dilbert" Adams' debate scorecard: "When I say FOX annihilated Trump, I mean they guaranteed a Trump landslide... We're past the question of whether our politicians are lying to us. That’s a given. The system forces them to lie to get elected. I'm not sure the voters care at this point."

This afternoon at 3:35PM will be SpaceX's fifth attempt at their SES-9 mission.  Please keep your hands inside the vehicle and fXf. I never did read why they scrubbed on Sunday, but all week it has been too windy in the upper atmosphere for another attempt. Today looks good. 

Just a reminder there are two exciting things going on with this launch, first, putting a huge satellite (5,300kg) into geosynchronous orbit (35,000km, 7,000mph), and second, landing the booster stage on a barge at sea so it can be reused.

Stephen Wolfram has posted another one of his long detailed explanations of complicated things; this time he tackles black holes.  A great article with amazing diagrams.  I feel a little like I felt after attending a Feynman lecture on special relatively; I think I finally get it, but I'm afraid the understanding is going to slip away. 

Dave Winer analyzes the new Facebook feature: How Instant Articles helps the open web.  Instant Articles are based on RSS - which Winer invented - and so apparently you can have content outside Facebook which is also shared inside; like my blog posts! 

Speaking of the open web, here we have Open source Tesla and SolarCity monitoring code.  Wow, how cool is that?  Now you, too, can create web and mobile applications to monitor your car and house.  Do not ask "why would you want to do that", instead celebrate that you can if you want. 

By the way, Scott Kelly and his Russian colleagues returned safely to Earth, landing their Soyuz spacecraft in the Afghanistan steppes.  (How amazing would it be to an American from 1969 to read that sentence?)  No "The Martian" -style rescue effort was required. 

Cory Doctorow: Why the first amendment means that the FBI can't force Apple to write and sign code.  "Code is speech." 

Totally agree: If you don't support nuclear power, you don't really care about global warming.  Nuclear is the *only* economically viable alternative to fossil fuels. 

So here's what's wrong with web video.  I see this link, the various costume changes of Wonder Woman throughout her 75-year history.  And even though it is a video, against my better judgment, I click through.  And instead of seeing the promised costume changes of Wonder Woman, I see many many seconds of someone named Arris Quinones talking, various production logos ... blah blah blah.  I clicked back before seeing a single costume change.  I've linked the video so if you do watch it all the way through, tell me if it was worth it.  For me it was V;DW*. 

And finally, this weekend the Iditarod starts!  Woo hoo.  The ceremonial start in Anchorage is tomorrow, and the "real" start of the 1,000-mile sled dog race from Willow to Nome is Sunday afternoon.  It is snowing in Anchorage right now, which is great news; last year they actually had to move the start to Fairbanks, because there wasn't enough snow in the Southern part of the course.  Not so this year.  I will of course be rooting for DeeDee Jonrowe, in her thirty-third year of racing (go DeeDee!); this year there are 86 team entered, the most ever.  DeeDee has finished second twice, and in the top ten sixteen times. 

* V;DW = Video, Didn't Watch